This is a really vague trailer, but I can tell you right now that I will never buy Ben Affleck as a math genius or whatever it is he's supposed to be here. He really has two notes as an actor- comedic, which is the thing he can actually do well (see Dazed and Confused, Shakespeare in Love or even Good Will Hunting) and the other note...well, I'm just gonna call it vacant. He stares blankly a lot in dramatic movies. This looks like another one of those.
Tom Hanks is Joined by Felicity Jones for 'Inferno' Trailer
For those who are interested in the next installment of what I'm pretty sure is the most forgettable ongoing franchise of the moment, here's Inferno, the continuation of Ron Howard's adaptations of the Dan Brown historical action books. I have to admit, I've never seen any of these, even though I did read The Da Vinci Code way back when it was the most popular airport novel of 2006/7. That was about all I needed of these stories though.
Movie of the Day: "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974)
For Mother's Day, we have one of the few films Martin Scorsese ever made about a woman, and one of his best at that. I think this movie isn't often remembered as part of his canon mostly because it doesn't fit into the Scorsese "mold" of gangsters and violence that he's most known for, but it's just as good and interesting as any of those, and a perfect time capsule for the era in which it was made. Ellen Burstyn plays Alice Hyatt, a housewife in a miserable marriage to a guy who abuses both her and her 12 year old son. When he dies in an accident and leaves them penniless, she has to step up and do something to support herself and her kid for the first time in her life. Burstyn is fantastic in the role which earned her a Best Actress Oscar, and the mother-son relationship is funny, earnest and specifically drawn. The ending is slightly controversial, given the movie's ostensibly feminist message, but it's also kind of realistic for the time. This movie was so popular it actually inspired a long running sitcom. Happy Mother's Day everybody!
BOX OFFICE 5/06-5/08: 'Civil War' Pulls in 180 Million
As expected, Marvel dominated Mother's Day weekend with Civil War earning over 181 million at the box office, making it good for the fifth biggest domestic opening in history. There were some who thought it would make over 200 million, but it fell short of that, and it also fell short of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which managed 191 million. But, obviously, all these weekends are huge to the point where it's unexpected if a movie that for all intents and purposes basically was the next Avengers film, didn't make around the same amount. It earned an "A" Cinemascore, which means its legs will probably hold up better than Batman v Superman. Its worldwide total is already at 700 million after just 12 days in release in select countries.
In second place was The Jungle Book with 21 million, earning a new total of 285 million, while Mother's Day actually increased 8 percent from its terrible opening, thanks to the holiday of course. The Huntsman and Keanu filled out the top five, while I just want to mention here that Zootopia has now crossed 327 million, which officially puts it ahead of Batman v Superman, which earned just 1 million this weekend, plummeting 73 percent since last week and adding to the impression that it's a disappointment financially, despite earning over 850 million worldwide. Both Zootopia and Deadpool will earn more domestically.
Top 5:
- Captain America: Civil War- 182 million
- The Jungle Book- 21.9 million
- Mother's Day- 9 million
- The Huntsman: Winter's War- 3.6 million
- Keanu- 3.1 million
Again, not much to talk about in limited release, although I should mention that some slightly successful indie releases this year were Sally Field's Hello, My Name is Doris, which is sitting at 13 million, and Helen Mirren's Eye in the Sky, at 17 million. So, good for older audiences, who now can only see actors and actresses of their era starring in small films with minimal screens. Captain America will dominate the box office for a while, with just Jodie Foster's Money Monster out next week, along with smaller releases like The Darkness, Love and Friendship and The Lobster. See you guys next week.
Full Trailer for Blake Lively in 'The Shallows'
Well, the full trailer for this Blake Lively vs. a shark movie definitely didn't disappoint. It's pure camp ridiculousness all the way, from Blake outsmarting the great white to Blake apparently pretending to be a doctor (I honestly don't know which one of those is more ludicrous). I may have to see this, after all. The laugh per minute ratio could be out of this world.
Mila Kunis Battles Christina Applegate in 'Bad Moms'
Okay, so, this looks horrendous, but aside from the general awfulness of this trailer, am I the only one who is confused as to why Mila Kunis's kids look about 12 and 13 in this? Is she really supposed to have had them as a teenager? It looks like it's supposed to be completely normal, but Mila Kunis is in her early thirties and looks very young, why would they make her kids adolescents? I know people can get started early, but it seems like it'd make more sense if they were around 5 or 6 years old at most, wouldn't it? Especially because she also looks like she's well off and with some kind of important job...yeah, not buying that. She's miscast here, but something tells me they didn't want this film headlined by only fortysomething women. Typical.
10 Movies to See in May
Happy May Day, everyone! As it's the first of the month, it's time now for the new crop of movies to recommend for the next thirty days, and as is our custom here, the theme for May is "In Commemoration, Part 1" for Memorial Day, as we celebrate war movies that take place mostly before the 20th century, although we do have some WWI choices in there too. We choose to celebrate this holiday all month long so we can make as many varied picks as possible, and some of my favorites for this theme include Gone With the Wind, A Very Long Engagement, Paths of Glory, Grand Illusion and so on. Go to the Movies for Every Month page to read more about this month's theme and why these particular films were chosen, and click here for the full list of ten films, including the original trailers. Happy Movie Watching!
BOX OFFICE: 4/29-5/01: 'Jungle Book' Stays in 1st as Newcomers Flop
It was a pretty quiet weekend, as The Jungle Book easily stayed in first place, pulling in another 42 million for a new total of 252 million, as it fell just 31 percent from last week. It was the only movie to earn double digits this weekend, and its worldwide total is now at 684 million. Key and Peele's comedy Keanu, meanwhile, opened to a soft 9 million and a so-so "B" Cinemascore, so it looks like the duo's first film isn't going to make much noise, though it tied for second place with The Huntsman. That film fell about 52 percent over last week, bringing in around 9 million as well, for a new total of 34 million, but of course, as we mentioned last time, given the budget on that one it's an epic bomb.
Garry Marshall's horribly reviewed ensemble rom-com Mother's Day debuted with 8 million, which is a sign that he can maybe stop making these now, as they seem to exist only to employ A-list actors as favors to the director. His Valentine's Day opened big with 56 million back in 2010, but New Year's Eve bombed with just 13 million in 2011, so I think it's safe to say these are over. Rounding out the top five was Barbershop, which is sitting at 44 million total.
Top 5:
- The Jungle Book- 42 million
- The Huntsman: Winter's War- 9.4 million
- Keanu- 9.4 million
- Mother's Day- 8.3 million
- Barbershop: The Next Cut- 6.1 million
So, not much to report in limited release this week either, as we're all waiting for the inevitable box office storm that Captain America: Civil War will bring next week, especially seeing as it's essentially the next Avengers movie anyway. As it is, the movie's already debuted overseas and brought in a record 200 million from just a few territories, so we can expect this to be very big. I'd say a 200 million domestic weekend is pretty likely at this point, and the good reviews don't hurt it, of course. See you guys then.
Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan Fall in Love in 'Tulip Fever'
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander may be looking to match her record set just last year of appearing in about six movies. These were all filmed before her win of course, so whatever the reason, she's really in demand right now. This Weinstein release doesn't look to have the Oscar goods though, because it's another one he's dumping in the summer, although it doesn't look especially bad either. Just kind of a typical period costume drama. Lots of people you'd expect to see in this kind of film, like Christoph Waltz, Judi Dench, and...Zach Galifianakis? Okay, maybe that's the reason it's being released in July.
See Barack and Michelle Obama's First Date in Trailer for 'Southside With You'
This fictionalization of the Obama's first date in 1989 premiered at Sundance to pretty good reviews, described as a Before Sunrise type of film that centers on just the two of them over the course of one day. It's funny though- this is the first of what's bound to be many, many Obama biopics that will inevitably be made over the next who knows how many years, don't you think? He's just one of those presidents, the kind that will be depicted on screen for decades to come. There's already another being made as we speak about him in his college years, and he's not even out of office yet. I have to say, neither of these actors looks or tries to sound much like Barack or Michelle, but maybe that's a good thing. Like Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Nixon, it's more about just capturing the spirit without attempting to imitate the person. Joseph Gordon-Levitt should take note of that. This one is coming out August 26th.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Does Another Funny Voice in 'Snowden' Trailer
Okay, so, I don't know if Joseph Gordon-Levitt is trying to convince people he's a terrible actor, but this guy cannot, I repeat, cannot transform himself Daniel Day-Lewis-style, the way he apparently thinks he can. Was there any reason he had to do this off-putting, distracting and absurdly comical voice to make himself try to imitate Edward Snowden? Yeah, I didn't think so. Aside from that detail though, the rest of this movie looks god awful anyway. Getting shades of that Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate from this. No wonder they moved it away from Oscar season.
Mystique Takes Charge in Final 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Trailer
Okay, so this last trailer puts Myst- oh I'm sorry, Jennifer Lawrence sans makeup, front and center as the undoubted leader of the X-Men after Charles gets kidnapped and Magneto looks to be brainwashed by Apocalypse or something. Fantastic. Mystique always was the most interesting character in these new X-Men movies, especially out of her suit/makeup. Wait, what's that? She's incredibly dull, emotionless, and they're only doing this because Jennifer Lawrence plays her? Right. That's what I thought. You see Wolverine's claw in the last second of this trailer, and the rest of it makes me wish he was just starring in it again as the lead.
